Parallel
by Moonlight Vampiress
Summary: What one sees as his biggest fear is different than what the other one sees as reality. Can they ever find what was taken? Or will an old friend have destroyed everything? M/M
1. In the Midst of Nothingness

Welcome to my newest story! This one will update once a month until I have completed Ronald Weasley's Strategies.

I do not own Harry Potter or make money from this fanfiction. Characters are OOC because I am pretty sure this never happened in cannon. I mean Ron married Hermione in cannon. Well that is the end of my mini rant.

Enjoy!

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_The winds are blowing once again._

_Everyone is sleeping._

_Where will he fall from next?_

_To find his lover weeping. _

Blaise Zabini heard the familiar ghostly song as he walked along the deserted streets of wizarding London. It was soft and quiet even with the rush of people on the street. The images were what Blaise saw.

He wasn't dead, but he was trapped in a never-ending sea of despair. The only time he had was when this universe and the one he came from aligned. It had to deal with the striking of the clock and the mist that seemed to rise only with this particular hour. One might think it was fitting for this and others might not understand, but when the clock struck 11pm, he only went to one place.

At this place, he would stare into the window of his home. He would see a snippet of the person he had once dreamed of. He would see a life that he wanted and should have had. He would see heaven spotted with hell and his dreams all at once. However, it was not him who had that place. It was her.

The girl whom many had stated stole his heart when they all attended Hogwarts. The girl, no, the woman who was living the life he had wanted to lead. He would have loved to been with his crush and for a split moment, he thought he would be. Everything had all come to a head where it always does… the summer after graduation.

It was a time when everyone was saying goodbye and enjoying their last vestiges of freedom before they went down their chosen career paths and began the rest of their lives. However, sometimes the people that you know aren't people that you should trust. Neville Longbottom was still in hiding for what he had done. The calm, loyal, former Gryffindor male had decided that his friends, associates, and family didn't deserve their happy endings.

After all, why should they?

Instead, Neville was both a hero from the war and yet upset with life in general. Everyone had said Neville would be this wonderfully sweet person who would end up teaching Herbology or studying plants or even opening his own flower shop. There was never a reason someone may have had for not trusting Neville. In fact, everyone trusted him even Draco and he rarely trusts anyone but select few people anymore.

They had all decided to have a nice fun little party at Pansy's house. She wanted to practice being a hostess for varying events and so everyone agreed to go there. It was a nice place and there was nothing out of the ordinary that anyone had expected. If they had known, maybe someone would have tried to talk Neville out of what he had become or perhaps made him realize how sincere they were in their apologies. It could be possible that none of that was going to help them at all.

The night started with a beautiful dinner and then everyone just sat around and talked. No one saw that Neville has been using magic to slip a particular pollen mixture into the wine that Pansy was getting ready to bring out, not even Pansy herself. Of course, that could have been because Pansy and Neville seemed to have become best friends at some point and she entrusted him with a lot of her secrets.

Everyone thanked Pansy for the wine, held a toast to new beginnings, and then disaster struck.

Harry and Draco had been separated by mirrors, but managed to use their strength to get back to one another. It had been them who had helped everyone else and figured out what happened. The disappearance of Neville with a note explaining that he wanted to destroy all of their happiness was pretty telling. He didn't know the effects though and would just appreciate hearing about them happening.

Pansy found herself stuck in the walls of her own home, literally. It had taken almost two weeks to get her out of the house and that was thanks to Hermione and Draco working tirelessly together to find a spell. Blaise had been able to view everything that evening at precisely the time they had started to drink the wine. He didn't realize for a few hours that no one could see him.

They had all been confined to Pansy's house, but not him.

No, he had been stuck in a parallel time stream that was more like a black misty void until a particular hour. Why him? Everything had seemed like it would have been perfect that evening. Pansy had planned to ask Hermione on a date to see if they were compatible. Harry and Draco had been dating for as long as anyone could remember. It was amazing that none of the adults had caught on to it. Seriously, Snape was supposed to be this amazing legilimens. Dumbledore was supposed to be this old man who knew everything and even Lucius Malfoy claimed to have eyes and ears everywhere, but no one could tell those two were dating but their closest friends? Idiots.

Anyway, Blaise had managed to finally corner Ron that evening. They had been exchanging letters and glances since their final year at Hogwarts. It had taken a while, but in all honesty his encouragement to ask out the fiery tempered redhead was the redhead himself. Ron's last letter stated quite clearly that if Blaise wanted him so much, then stop with the flowery bullshit and ask him out. It was all Ron was waiting for.

Blaise was stuck unable to contact him or anything. All he could do was watch from afar as Ron went on with his life and that is where he was now. Right now, Blaise was staring into Ron's window and watching him have this happy family with Hermione Granger. He guessed that Hermione's date with Pansy hadn't worked out too well for either of the women, though he had never gone to see Pansy after they got her out of the wall. He hadn't gone to see Draco or Harry either, but had seen them in passing at Ron's house.

His heart clenched in his chest as he watched Ron and Hermione share a kiss with one another as Hermione went to go put their child to bed. This wasn't supposed to his reality. This wasn't supposed to be any reality! It should be him and Ron and their children and something that wasn't this… anything but this. Couldn't he have been with Harry, Draco, or anyone else? Why did his happy ending have to be with her?

Blaise looked at the clock and knew he'd only have thirty more minutes of watching this torture and yes it was indeed torture. Still, Blaise would rather be tortured every day of his life than to never see Ron again.

~Ronald Weasley~

It was 11pm again, wasn't it? He hated that time more than anything else in the world. The one thing he wanted had slipped through his grasp with the emergence of a new Dark Lord as he saw it. No one could guess why Neville had betrayed them all with his actions. What could he have possibly gained from it?

Money?

Fame?

No. Those couldn't be it at all. Neville was a decently well-off pureblood that was famous for killing Nagini in the war and for his efforts in bridging the gap between everyone. He was even dating a pureblood witch named Daphne Greengrass and one of the most respected men in the wizarding world.

It had to be something else that caused him to snap the way he did. After all, nothing made sense and the only person that they could ask about it, disappeared without a trace. His mother and sister had seemingly abandoned him for not marrying Hermione right out of high school and instead entertaining a relationship with Blaise.

Ron didn't regret it for one second. The times he had gone out to lunch with the dark-skinned Slytherin were what made him the happiest. Of course, he hadn't quite told their mutual friends about the happy lunch meetings because he was afraid that they might pressure Blaise into asking him out before he was ready. He didn't want to do that to him and so he just kept up their lunches, letters, and glances until he couldn't take it anymore.

The summer would be over soon and he wanted to know what they had. All the flirting, talking about their likes and dislikes, and so much more, he told Blaise he wouldn't send another letter until he asked him out. He could tell after a while that Blaise liked him as much as he had liked the Italian. It was a bit of a stretch sending him an ultimatum like he had, but he knew that the other would take his dear sweet time asking him out. He told his parents about hoping Blaise asked him out and his father was rather pleased while his mom was less than happy. It was something like she felt he wouldn't follow his dreams and just be another pureblood snooty pants or something.

Ron had calmly reminded her that they were purebloods too and that Blaise didn't care about any of those things. His mother had just continued to throw a fit and he left saying he had no reason to stay there. She had asked him how he would support himself, but actually thanks to asking Draco to make a few smart investments for him with money earned from his photoshoots and interviews following the war, he had enough to buy his own place. As for learning the necessities to survival such as cooking and cleaning, he had managed to take on an abandoned house elf that threatened to harm itself if it didn't get a master.

Still… everything fell apart thanks to Neville.

Why couldn't someone else be stuck in a parallel dimension? No. It had to be Blaise that was stuck there and unable to come out. After countless research, they were still nowhere near close to figuring out how to find him or save him. In fact, it was the whole reason Ron became an Auror.

He had been going to help out his brothers at their shop before this happened. Once it happened, he decided to be an Auror for the sake of hunting down Neville. He wanted to know how to get Blaise back from where ever the hell Neville had sent him. Right now, he was sitting by the window hoping to catch even a glimpse of Blaise from the other dimension. Hermione had stated that Blaise could probably see their world around the time that they drank the spiked wine which was 11pm.

It had been Draco's idea that anger could sometimes pull a person into another dimension, but it hadn't worked. They staged a wedding with Hermione, but neither he nor Hermione were married. They didn't have children or anything as people would have thought they might end up having. Actually, Hermione came over to make sure that he didn't do anything stupid and give any report on the research everyone was doing for them when they had a moment.

He felt bad about them helping so much, but they insisted. It wouldn't be fair for them to be happy and he wasn't. So every night at about 11pm, Ron would come and sit by this window. Sometimes by looking out of it, he could see visions of a happy family with him and Blaise. He imagined coming home from working in the shop and Blaise coming home from working in the ministry or working at a restaurant the other owned.

Ron could see a pretty mixed-child with freckles and curly brown hair as if the child couldn't decide which parent it wanted to take after more. All of this stolen away for some reason that he would never get to know thanks to someone he thought had been a friend. He glanced at the clock frowning as the clock was one minute to midnight and knew he wouldn't get any of those visions anymore. It hurt him, but he remembered that there was always tomorrow night.

The redhead stood up from his chair and went over to the window touching the glass with a sad forlorn look on his face.

And on the other side of the glass, Blaise had his hands against the glass as well wishing that he was the one with Ron right now.

Neither of them could see one another, but they both had their hands pressed to the glass. A single tear slid down the face of two men… one in this dimension and one in the next.

As the clock struck midnight and the dimensions split once more, both of them wondered if they'd ever have their happy ending.


	2. What is Reality

I apologize for taking so long with this update. I've had a lot of things going on.  
Here is the next chapter of Parallel. I am looking at 12-14 chapters for this entire fic. Please read and enjoy!  
As usual, I don't own Harry Potter or make money from this.

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What is reality? What would constitute fantasy? How is it everything can disappear in an instant? Blaise wished that he could turn back the clock and just tell Ron how he really felt about the redhead. The streets were still misty and Blaise wished it was once again 11:00 PM so that he could see Ron again.

Everything here felt so unreal and yet this is what he lived daily. His body was kept alive and sustained by whatever forced governed this place. It was a place to abandon all hope and yet his hope and that time of day were the only things that he had left in this world. It was painful to see how much Ron moved on with his life, but at least he wasn't alone.

If…

Perhaps if he had been the one to talk to Neville, he could have talked him out of whatever he planned to do. Perhaps if he had dated Neville himself, then the other wouldn't have felt this way. It would have meant that he had to admire Ron from afar, but it wouldn't have been like this. Of course, no one was even sure what Neville was thinking.

He wouldn't give up though. The chance at happiness with Ron was too much to give up on and he couldn't allow himself to do it. A flash appeared in the distance confusing Blaise as he hadn't seen one before. He ran towards the light as he fast as he could go and found himself in an odd room.

Was this it? Was this the true reality as he had grown up believing? The room seemed like the one that he saw in Ron's house. It was the same window that he had always looked into at 11:00 PM each and every night since he had been trapped in this odd dimension.

No. A glance outside the oddly triangular window showed nothing by the shadowy gray of his existence since that day. If he was still trapped, then where was he now? He looked around the place tapping walls, opening and looking under the furniture in the room. Everything was solid and colorful yet he could not for the life of him figure out how it appeared.

Blaise turned around and sat in the chair that his beloved sat in every night. His hand moved slowly falling over a book on the side table next to him. A shock went through his hand as Blaise looked at the object. A book? This hadn't been here the numerous times that he had been able to see Ron and yet it was like the book had always been here.

Words were forming on the pages of the book next to him and a smile appeared on his lips.

_Blaise, _

_I realize you may never see this book or these letters, but I miss you. I am not sure why what happened had, but I want to be able to see you once again. I became an Auror, not that you would know, but I needed to find you after that night. _

_I never got the chance to tell you that I love you. I wanted to say it then, but Neville… he… cast that spell. When I find him, I will make him regret splitting us apart. I just hope that it isn't too late and that we can try to pick up where we left off. _

_Yours forever,_

_Ronald Weasley_

The letter confused Blaise as much as it made him happy and uncharacteristically shout for joy in the space he was in. Confusion stemmed from the fact that he couldn't figure out how he was able to so much as receive the letter, but it was worth it to find out if it worked both ways. Hope filled the former Slytherin as he opened the drawer on the side table finding the materials he needed.

Was the spell weakening or had his dedication towards wanting to see Ron again created some sort of allowances in this dimension? Either way, he wasn't going to kick a gift horse in the mouth and not respond in hopes that he could at least speak through letters once more. It was only his feelings of hope that allowed him to relax and focus so that he could write the letter.

_Ron, _

_I don't know if you will see this, but I needed to write this letter. This place is so cold and everything is in shades of grey. There are no people, shops, and not even food. It is as though something is keeping me alive and here. I've been wondering if I am actually being kept somewhere secretly and it is simply my mind that is gone. It would make more sense would it not? If that's the case, where would Neville be keeping me and why. How is Daphne? Is she alright? I know she must be shocked that her sweet Neville is capable of such things or maybe she is not. _

_I would love to pick up where we left off. My confession of my feelings for you. The words that I never got to say before we were torn apart by someone we should've been able to trust. Every night at 11pm, I can see you and watch you for one beautiful hour. I want for us to be able to get together, but I don't want to break up your marriage and family with Hermione. I couldn't possibly do that to you and ruin your happiness. If you do get this letter, please respond._

_Always thinking of you,_

_Blaise Zabini_

He looked at the letter once more and wondered if he should tear it out of the book, but he did not. It wouldn't make sense to get rid of something that he hoped would be his communication to Ron. A sigh left his lips as he shut the book. However, the moment he did, the room disappeared and he was once again standing in the cold, empty, grey of the dimension that he was trapped in.

Where had the room gone? Had he just imagined it in an attempt to ease the loneliness within his heart and mind? Was he steadily being driven insane or succumbing to the fear of always being alone? Another scream into the darkness that no one could hear but himself. Once more he was on his knees silently begging, wishing, and even praying for a way out of this living hell.

~Ronald Weasley~

It was lunch time and he was once again home. He had never stopped wishing that it was all just a dream and that Blaise would be there to welcome him before running back to work. Of course, he knew it was just a fantasy. There were days that he wished he could put himself into a coma and await Blaise's hopeful return, but that wouldn't happen.

He wanted his revenge and yet he knew it wasn't healthy. In reality that couldn't happen, but why was this reality? Why couldn't he just change his reality as he saw fit and allow the things he wanted to happen? A somber chuckle left his lips as he realized he sounded exactly like Voldemort or any other wizard that had truly lost their grip on what everyone called reality.

His house elf had managed to put together a nice pasta meal for him and as he sat down to eat he called for his notebook. It didn't matter that Blaise may never see his letters to him, but it mattered that he had written them. One day, when they freed him, he would share them with Blaise and let the other know how much he had thought about him all this time.

A soft hum left his lips as he opened to the last letter he had written and re-read it with a light smile as he thought of Blaise. He turned to the next page and was about to write, but there was writing already there. Had he written another letter in his sleep-like state for his long-lost love? As Ron read the letter, his eyes widened almost comically and he couldn't stop himself from accidentally spitting out some of his food with joy. Immediately, he apologized to the house elf and explained how great the food was, but he had suddenly got wonderful news.

The house elf had understood and simply went to clean up the mess. His master had probably figured out something about Lord Zabini. It was the only time his master ever so much as truly came alive like that. He finished cleaning in record time and awaited the order that he knew was coming.

Ron asked his elf to please go and inform his friends that he would like to speak to them right away. With so many other brilliant minds working on this case, he was bound to find a way or at least confirm that this was truly Blaise who had sent the message. He sincerely hoped this was not a dream and that he was secretly still at his desk in the Auror office and waiting for another assignment or word to hear about the whereabouts of Neville.

The floo chimed and suddenly Hermione was in his livingroom with Pansy and Professor Snape. He heard another chime and Draco and Harry were there along with Daphne. Ron had wanted to hate her at first, but then he saw how upset she was. Apparently, she truly had no idea what had happened to Neville and he had broken up with her just barely a few days before citing that he needed space. She had kept to herself and when they approached her about what he had done she was confused. Neville never seemed to want to do anything like that and swore up and down that it had to have been someone under the influence of a polyjuice potion and legilimens to gain his knowledge of plants because she couldn't believe it.

Once they shared their memories with her, she broke down and admitted that something had been off, but she had thought it was the pressure from her family for him to marry her. Daphne had told him that he didn't have to marry her right away or ever. She would have just been happy by his side and to hell with pureblood ideals that had led to the war that had killed someone of her friends, and while he had seemed a bit less stressed, he had still acted rather oddly.

Ron realized then that he couldn't be mad at her. He knew she wanted answers as much as the rest of them did and the only way they could get these answers was to find Neville and figure out what was going on. Still, he looked at everyone as they had both expectant looks and some had looks of wanting to tell him that whatever it was… it probably wasn't real.

The red-head showed them the notebook that they knew he kept full of letters to Blaise and then the last page. Draco, Pansy, and Severus gasped as they all recognized Blaise's much neater handwriting and Hermione was casting all the diagnostic spells she knew both legal and on the border of legal. She didn't understand it, but no one did. Instead she made a full diagnostic report on the book and the writing before talking about going to her lab with Severus and Draco on her heels to try and solve the mystery.

Daphne smiled handing him a report on all the dark magic texts and tomes in her library explaining that she hoped it could be of some use and she had given copies to the others. Ron thanked her for it and he was being sincere. In a realistic way of thinking, he felt it was best for people to keep their tomes and texts in their libraries and had advocated for it. How could people expect to defeat dark magic, if no one ever knew what spells could be used? She smiled at him and left with the unspoken words, please don't kill him before I have the chance to speak with him. Ron sincerely hoped that in the heat of the moment he could keep that promise.

Pansy and Harry sat with him for a bit to make sure he understood that this link, this connection, was the only lead they currently had. They both shared what they've heard in different circles about Neville's potential whereabouts and explained about a mysterious angel in white that people have seen. It was said that the two were lovers living in a fantasy land as opposed to reality.

Ron closed his eyes once more as he looked at the letter touching it gently as if it was the only thing holding him to this world. What truly was reality if for everyone it was different? Should it just be called life or perhaps should it be called an endless set of dreams until one day it all stopped?

He would write about the lead in his next letter. Perhaps the romanticism that Blaise had once showed on their dates would prove to be helpful for bringing their realities back together. This had to work more than once… it couldn't have just been a fluke, could it?


End file.
